How Demonetization keeps paying the Indian taxpayer

Rs 37,500 crores that is $5.3 billion is lying in the Indian banks unclaimed.  No one wants it.  The owners don’t even want anyone to know that it was theirs.  As far as the Indian tax payer is concerned, it is theirs – collectively.  When Modi had said that if the government works conscientiously, moneys as much as Rs 15 lakhs could be recovered for one person.  Which some morally corrupt and tone deaf jokers mocked as coming to people’s pockets.  Of course, such people are neither serious about their intelligence nor do they care for the country.

In any case, what caused this change of heart in people such huge moneys lying around?  In one word – demonetization.

A majority of corporate entities that were struck off the government’s companies roster following demonetisation have not come back to claim their bank deposits, which are to the tune of Rs 37,500 crore, an official in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity.

The prospect of losing everything – even legitimate wealth, while claiming the illegitimate one, due to legal scrutiny and focus is a much worse scenario than losing these huge sums!

The art of giving the devil a deal where he choses good as his default is a particularly special mark of greatness in a leader.  That is what Modi showed with demonetization.

Government had deregistered 297,000 companies which were not in compliance and asked the companies to comply with the rules to be restored to active status or lose access to their deposits.  Well, only 60,000 came back.

But these are not the only shell companies out there.  More lists will come out.  And the PMO expects illegal deposits to be Rs 3 lac crores!

The MCA had also sought a report from around 56 banks on details of transactions of the 2.37 lakh companies. The source in the ministry said banks, especially private sector ones, were initially reluctant to provide information. “Only after the banking secretary met the banks did we get information as per our expectation.”

The Prime Minister’s Office is expecting to unearth illegal deposits worth Rs 3 lakh crore and has directed the Income-Tax department and MCA to work together to ascertain such deposits. The PMO has also shared details of listed companies with income tax department and the Securities and Exchanges Board of India for investigation.

Further, the MCA is planning to release one more list of shell companies in coming days.

The Income tax department is planning to take action under the black money law against companies who have failed to come up and claim the bank deposits.

These are the gains just from the shell companies deregistration which was facilitated by demonetization.  The seizure of assets by the Enforcement Directorate  has been a separate exercise.  Just between June 2018 and October 2018, over Rs 20,000 crores worth of assets had been attached – as per the ED tweets.  This number has since grown!

Those who crib about the Modi government not bringing “all black money” to the coffers forget that until this government – no one, including the reverential Lal Bahadur Shastri brought in a didly squat in black money back.  In fact, all other PMs – except Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shastri – simply stashed millions in their banks.

If Modi has failed – and if you are retarded enough to call this achievement that – then we must understand that Modi has failed against HIS standards.  Not Indian political standards.  And, that should be a thing to rejoice!  That, there is finally someone who is setting standards and goals which even he cannot achieve.  But what he achieves in one term are beyond all the 65 years of governments put together!  Dinging that takes a special kind of masochist imbecile.